


The Royal Escape

by sayalittleprayerforloki



Category: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, And they were siblings!, BAMF Loki (Marvel), Oh My God, They were siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26452315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayalittleprayerforloki/pseuds/sayalittleprayerforloki
Summary: A gift based on a tumblr prompt. A story in which Loki is an absoloute dick, until he isn't.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheRangerLife](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRangerLife/gifts).



> Thanks for sticking with me since day one, TheRangerLife! This little project is for you.

The castle gleamed softly in the torchlight as night descended on the realms, tugged over the horizon by the celestial moon. All year, the kingdom had been rejoicing: Asgard had won the war against its enemies, and the reign of the Odinsons continued in glorious splendor.

Loki was bored. 

He was always bored on this little rock called Earth, his place of eternal confinement after a roll of the dice went awry. When he and Thor had conquered the Nine Realms together, the Allfather thought it would be a good idea to divide up the territory by chance to ensure that each brother had a fair share. 

Unfortunately, chance had not been on Loki's side that day. He was given just about every unruly, revolting, and disgusting planet that they had captured, while Thor was relaxing in the lap of luxury on hospitable places such as Alfheim or Jupiter. 

Loki was stuck with Jotunheim, Knowhere, and Earth. 

The latter's inhabitants had not taken kindly to Loki rule at the start. They had revolted against him and against Asgard, banding together in a formidable army that boosted their spirits for a little bit. But Loki was nothing if not cunning: before he called in the legions of Asgard to crush the uprising completely, he gained a crucial bit of insight that changed his entire strategy. 

Midgardians did not take kindly to outsiders. So, he must become one of them. 

Disguising himself under a mortal name and appearance, he appeared out of nowhere as a hero that drove back a carefully crafted illusion of himself, and the Earth watched as the Asgardian god was beaten back by a ragtag hero of the people, unaware that they were one and the same. Mortals really were so foolish.

Loki became a champion, a celebrity, and later, the highest member of a newly-deigned ruling class that was to pick up the pieces after the Asgardian "invasion". Loki, or rather, Prince Luke, insisted to the people that the title of King should be reserved instead of taken, and he would remain a prince for as long as he should rule. 

The mortals in their democratic fervor practically swooned at his declaration. They loved the newly crowned Prince Luke, and went so far so to write ballads, make portraits, and throw balls in his honor. Loki was a king in all but name, and he ruled fairly, justly, and peacefully over a people that adored him. 

Which brings us back to the terrible boredom. Life as a mortal was horribly dull, and one of the only things gave Loki's any entertainment was presiding over the royal court. There, he could listen to the trivialities of mortal life and feel a small sense of pride: they were utterly weak in both body and mind, so their problems were like a mind-numbing source of entertainment for him. 

People would come in with all sorts of issues: divorce, adultery, theft, and other types of disputes that they expected their Prince to manage. Sometimes, women would make up the most ridiculous stories just to get close to him, then gossip to their friends about his charming looks or piercing eyes. Of course, Loki could always see through their lies - he also could have fixed most of their issues with a snap of his fingers, but Prince Luke was supposed to be utterly unmagical in every sense of the word. Again, bored. 

Still, Loki educated his people on the realm outside of their little world. Through intel he had gathered as he pushed back the mighty armies of Asgard (or Loki's centuries of magical knowledge, pared down for the mortal brain), he explained the dangers of the lands that he and Thor had conquered. He masterfully wove a culture of fear and of intolerance to everyone who wasn't human - namely, so that Loki's little ruse wouldn't be discovered should a magical being venture its way to Earth. He told a few stories of the brutal Jotunns, the terrifying Devil's Anus, and the wrath of a provoked Bilgesnipe. As time passed, reality tangled with myth and the humans proved content to remain, complacent, on their little planet. The legal system grew with the human's hatred, outlawing everyone who wasn't a human on the planet. Thus, Loki had kept his abilities and identity a complete secret from those that he ruled.

Until a cool spring day turned Loki's carefully constructed kingdom on its head.

He was relaxing in the throne room, preforming little bits of mischief here and there: tweaking the guard's helmet with a gust of wind, leaving a massive bar of gold for a lucky member of the kitchen staff who happened into the freezer, and casting a spell that guaranteed a most _pleasantly_ exhausting night for the servant boy and girl that had been dancing around each other all year. He idly pet his dog, Björn, who was one of the only beings that knew about Loki's gifts. Loki liked to conjure him treats when the palace houndskeeper wasn't looking.

He scratched Björn's head as the massive dyrehund settled back on his haunches before flopping over and looking at his stomach, then at Loki expectantly. 

The Prince was smothering a chuckle when the massive throne room's doors were flung wide open, and guttural scream echoed through the oak rafters above the massive hall.

In came a group of four Midgardian palace guards, outfitted in deep green and gold armor. They held a writhing girl between them, and she kicked, bit, spat, and did just about everything to get out of their grasp. 

"Let me see the King! I have urgent business with him. Unhand me, you quim!" The girl, jet-black hair whipping around her, gave a strong kick to one guard's shin and made a race for the throne. The remaining three lunged after her, finally managing to wrench her hand behind her back and keep the blows from flying. Immobilized, she just screamed louder.

Loki growled in frustration. He could have ripped the voice box from that girl's throat with a snap of his fingers, but he valued his boredom much more than an irate summons from Odin. Instead, he hit his staff on the ground, signaling the flanking guards to close the palace doors and trap all those present inside the innermost room of the palace.

"Let her go." Loki spoke with authority and the guards immediately stepped away, leaving the girl standing but panting for breath. She straightened her spine and made to speak, but Loki looked at the head guard and raised an eyebrow.

"My Lord." The guard bowed. "We arrested her for being a criminal of the lowest kind, of endangering our kingdom and all that life here."

Loki started. "What?" 

"Yes, sir, she's charged with a crime." 

"Of what crime, may I ask?" An irate Loki thrummed his fingers on his jeweled staff as Björn bristled at his right. 

"Being a Jotun, sir."

Loki froze. "Jotuns have not infiltrated this planet since Loki was beaten back. I should know," he lied smoothly, speaking each word with such precision that it made the guard under his glare grip their swords a little tighter.

"Tell him your name, girl," the guard spat. 

"My name is Selaena Laufey. I am second in line for the throne, behind my younger brother, Loki Laufeyson."

Every muscle in Loki's body locked up, his mind reeling. How he desperately wanted to believe that this was another scheme, another ruse to gossip with the girls about, but Loki could discern a lie much easier than he could lie to himself. The girl- Selaena- looked remarkably similar to him: they both had a sharp jaw and a tall lean frame, though she was less polished. She had a jagged cut above her upper lip, and her rather pointed ear was nicked at the cartilage to split ever so slightly on her right. A glance into her eyes showed that she was giving him the same assessment, and Loki's emerald green eyes softened for a fraction of a second. Then he set his jaw, and the kind light she had seen in his eyes was replaced by a mask of indifference.

"Take her to the dungeon. She dies in the morning."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my loves! College is ok, though it's still pretty stressful (hence the slow updates). I've finally found a group of friends that I really like, so my first-year COVID fears of not having anyone to hang out with have died down.
> 
> Don't get me wrong - I still feel lonely, scared, and faced with more deadlines than I ever have before. Now, I just know that other people are going through it as well.
> 
> P.S. I'm hardly an expert, but if any of my readers are younger and have any questions about the college process, feel free to ask in the comments. I'd be happy to answer! 
> 
> That being said, here's the last half of this short gift for a beloved reader. Remember if you have new prompts or requests, comment them down below :) I'll still be working on Because You're Worth It, and those updates should come much quicker now that I'm on break!

When the court adjourned for the night, Loki rose slowly off of his throne, cracking his joints and straightening his shoulders. He took the back route out of the throne room, deciding to take a stroll through his private gardens to sort his thoughts. At his side, Björn shook from his scruffy neck to his tail and nudged Loki's hand, sniffing at it hopefully. The prince chuckled, tendrils of magic already writhing between his fingers as he pulled a large bone from thin air and tossed it to his hopeful companion. It dropped into the koi pond, and Björn leaped in, splashing water everywhere and sending the fish darting away.

It brought a small smile to Loki's face. His brows were pressed into that sharp furrow that broadcast his stress, a look he'd worn more and more as of late. 

He whistled to Björn, who shook the water out of his coat and came to heel at his side, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted. It seemed like Björn was Loki's only confidante these days, with Thor overseeing his own realms and not giving him so much as a fly-by.

He had been thinking about Thor recently, milling over his current situation with regards to his brother. They had never been purely nice to one another, that was certain, but they entertained the impish sort of brotherly love that accompanies a masculine coming of age. That being said, Loki had always longed for the softer kind of affection that came with having a sister.

Loki, inherently, was a protector. For his chosen few, his inner circle, it was his greatest pleasure to keep them from harm and hold them safe. To him, it was almost a duty - cynical in the sense that he built up confidence in his protection of others, and wholesome in his genuine motivation to leave those he cared for better off than when they met. 

Of course, he wouldn't subscribe to tradition to do so. That would be ludicrous, and Loki's mischievous tendencies would never allow it. That was the reason he wove the web of lies that ensured his people stayed in the ignorant, hateful dark - it was safer there. Boring or not, humans were under his protection and he would not fail his people. 

This Selaena was now poised to ruin the peace he had so painstakingly created. Loki had wanted to dismiss her outright, but her uncanny resemblance to himself and his father, Laufey, is what had given him pause. 

Was she his sister? She undoubtedly believed that she was - Loki could feel no lies coming from her testimony at the court that night. But Loki had erroneously believed that Thor was his brother, flesh and blood, for centuries. Perhaps that was nativity or maybe even hope that kept him blind to the truth about Thor, but there was no mistaking his genealogical ties to Selaena. His Asgardian form was nearly identical to hers, though he didn’t know what laid underneath what was clearly a glamour over her Jotunn skin. She could have very easily modified her human appearance to match his, but that was given he had made her acquaintance enough for his likeness to be carefully remembered. Loki had the uncanny ability to remember the most intimate of details of even passing acquaintances: he was certain that had they met before, he would have known it immediately. 

He had see her tonight. He had to find out the truth.

The girl wouldn’t be killed, not under his protection. He planned to release her under the cover of night, claim she escaped, and ensure that she actually left the realm in order to preserve the peace he had created. It was the best way – the safest way for both her and for him. Determined, he set off towards the dungeons, waving a hand to wink out of reality and re-enter at the top of descending steps. Another flick of his fingers sent the two entry guards crumpling to the ground, fast asleep. Loki straightened his collar and called his royal (and more importantly, battle-worn) staff to his hand before hesitating and vanishing it again. He was coming to ask questions, not to conquer.

He steeled his nerves and used the brass knocker to rap sharply three times. When he heard no reply, he opened the door carefully, taking in the dungeons underneath his palace. To his pleasant surprise, the guards had kept it pretty clean – much removed from some of the cells he and Thor had found themselves in after their various misadventures through the realms.

It was the middle of the night, so most of the inmates were fast asleep and tucked into the thin blankets the palace provided them. Selaena appeared to be following close after them into sleep when he entered, but she stood up quickly when she saw him stride towards her. Just to be safe, Loki thew up a wall of Seiðr that would keep any conversation contained between him and his alleged sister. She analyzed him, glancing to his hands and belt to ensure he wasn't armed before speaking hesitantly. 

"Prince?" Loki didn't say anything, just reached into his pocket and morphed a spare coin into a key, wordlessly unlocking her door and propping it open before entering and leaning against the wrought iron bars. Selaena caught on in a moment of understanding and slumped again, though she watched him warily. 

There was a few beats of silence where no one spoke. Then, they both started at the same time.

"Your majesty, I-"

"Please let-" Loki exhaled a laugh. "You first."

"Prince Luke," she began again, "I shouldn't have come. I had hoped to see my brother and bring him home, but legend from Jotunheim is not up to date as it seems."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, is the legend from Jotunheim?"

Selaena crossed her arms over her chest. "There is rumor that Loki is here, ruling in Odin's stead. He was supposed to oversee Jotunheim as well, so I've come to retrieve him."

Loki snorted to play it off, but his mind was racing. "Why not just keep Jotunheim to yourself? Seems like Loki would rather just leave it to someone who could be more involved than he."

“Yes, my brother abandoned us. But Jotunheim was under his protection, and it's falling to anarchy because all of his attention is focused on his _precious_ Midgard! Without Laufey's firstborn on the throne, no one will accept my rule. He needs to come home."

“Since I've done such a great job with Midgard?” Loki laughed bitterly before freezing in his tracks.

“You?” Selaena sat up suddenly, intelligent eyes glinting.

And in that moment, Loki knew was fucked – royally.

He scrambled for lies that usually flowed so easily off his silver tongue, but none came. His heart beat terribly, but there was nothing he could do to save himself now. Loki exhaled and lifted his crown to thrust his hand through his hair, shedding his mortal glamour as he did so to appear fully Asgardian, as most would recognize him. Selaena gasped, then stepped towards him hesitantly to bring his face into focus.

“Is it really you?” She asked, voice trembling with emotion. He gave a soft smile and nodded.

“Oh, Loki!” She leapt forward to wrap her arms around him and he stiffened, then relaxed into her tight hold and lifted his arm to carefully cup her head. The moment they touched, they both reverted into their Jotunn forms and identical markings sprouted from their bodies, including the spiked coronet that denoted royal Jotunn status. Loki gathered her hands, now blue to match his own, into his.

"I didn't truly mean to abandon Jotunheim, Selaena. I ask Heimdall to check in from time to time, but it's true that I became focused here, and the fault is entirely mine for that."

"Loki-I-." She swallowed hard. "I never knew you, but I wanted to. I had always heard of my brother who had been taken in by Odin, blessed to rule during the division of the realms. I came here to meet you, but Midgard is much less tolerant than I had thought."

Loki grimaced. "That's my fault as well. Midgardians are... _pliable,_ " Selaena smirked at that, "and I delighted myself for a short time by manipulating their history."

 _Repeating what Odin did to me,_ he thought bitterly as he continued. "It is my responsibility to make things right, starting with getting you out of here. Come with me.” He concentrated, and his staff met his outstretched fingers, returning his glamour in a flash of magic. He took her hand firmly and pulled her along, talking in hushed tones as they passed the sleeping guards. 

"We'll have to get out of the city before calling the Bifrost to avoid attracting attention. You can return to Jotunheim and give them news of my abdication." Selaena was nearly as tall as he was and had kept pace easily, but lagged behind when he mentioned passing over the crown.

"They won't accept that, brother. The court is too power-hungry to just take me at my word," Selaena scoffed.

"Then I'll come with you and speak in front of the court," he said with finality. 

"But your people!" Selaena protested. "They expect me dead, Loki. You can't just leave them to riot while you're traveling the realms."

The corner of Loki's mouth turned up in a smirk when he winked. "Sister, I'm the God of Mischief. They'll never know the difference." He started picking up pace again, but loosened his grip on his staff up to quickly grab it again near the top. 

Now, Loki was fond of his staff. It was a versatile thing: amorphous, exquisitely built, and a little bit stubborn – just like Loki himself. He spoke a brief incantation and slammed the blunt end into the ground, sending a signal to Heimdall to send the Bifrost his way, then dropped it up to land on dewy-damp cobblestones with a bounce. Before it could drop again, the wood began to split and grow, morphing into a perfect image of Prince Luke in full regalia. Loki took the crown off his own head and handed it to his replacement, who nodded in acknowledgement of his charge and set off towards the palace.

Selaena's mouth just gaped. "Okay, you've got to teach me to do that."

"I would be delighted to, sister. Are you ready?" Loki squeezed her hand in reassurance, but Selaena just beamed up at him and pulled him into another hug. Loki held her tight, instantly vowing that he would never be the first to let go.

She wiggled out of his embrace and took a deep breath, preparing for the journey on the Bifrost ahead. With a set jaw, she met his eyes in determination.

"Ready." With her words, the Bifrost hurtled down from the heavens, engulfing them in prisms of pure energy and color as they sped towards Jotunheim.

And if Loki brushed away a happy tear as they hurtled through the rainbow light, no one would ever know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if there are any grammar mistakes, and I'd be happy to fix them. 
> 
> ALSO I JUST WATCHED THE NEW LOKI TRAILER: ALDJFAPBGPoweijkaldsngapoiejfkladsgnpioJPJ;lakdjfapgrnp
> 
> I'm gonna process in the morning, but that's my emotion for now :)


End file.
